The late Jeff Cooper was a gentleman of the old school and
one of the most influential gun writers of the 20th Century. He was best known
as a handgun authority, but also thought and wrote about long guns. When
Remington introduced their now iconic Model 600 bolt action carbines with
18.5" barrels, ventilated ribs and adjustable iron sights, Jeff Cooper was
among their few champions in the outdoor press. The Model 600 was introduced in
1964 in calibers .222 Remington, .243 Winchester, .308 Winchester and .35
Remington. Of these, .308 was the most popular and Guns and Shooting Online Technical Advisor Jack Seeling purchased a
.308 M-600. In 1965, Remington introduced the first true short Magnum
cartridges, the .350 Remington Magnum and 6.5mm Remington Magnum, in the Model
600M Magnum. This was a laminated stock version of the M-600. Guns and Shooting Online Owner/Managing
Editor Chuck Hawks was selling guns in a retail store at that time and, alerted
to the pending introduction of the new .350 Magnum, ordered what he believes
was the first Model 600M sold in California.

The Model 600's were justifiably criticized for their short
barrels and were only produced until 1968, when they were replaced by the Model
660, with a 20" barrel sans
ventilated rib. In the event, the Model 660 fared no better in the marketplace
than the previous Model 600; it was discontinued in 1971. With that, Remington
quit experimenting with short action carbines until the introduction of the
Model Seven over a decade later. However, Jeff Cooper had become enamored with
the .308 Model 600 and .350 Magnum Model 600M and extolled their benefits years
after they had been discontinued.

A parallel development in the early 1960's was the introduction
by Bushnell and Leupold of long eye relief scopes that could be mounted centrally
forward of the receiver on top ejecting Winchester Model 94 lever actions. This
seemed like a better option than the offset side mount scope to our Chuck
Hawks, who installed an original model Leupold 2x IER scope on his Centennial
'66 Model 94. Thus, Chuck and Jack, who were hunting partners and college students
during the early 1960's, were familiar with the very elements (M-600 bolt action
carbine and IER scope) that Jeff Cooper later merged to refine his scout rifle
concept. Jack currently owns a .350 Mag. Model 673, the 2003 successor to the
Model 600M, and Chuck's dedicated "scout rifle" is a pre-'64 Model 94
with a Leupold FX-II 2.5x28mm2x IER Scout scope mounted forward of the
receiver. Chuck insists that the Winchester 94 carbine, particularly with tailored
handloads or Hornady LeverEvolution ammunition, is every bit as useful a scout
rifle as any bolt action .308 carbine. He has a point, but we digress.

It was in 1968 that Jeff Cooper fitted a Model 600 with a
receiver sight and (apparently) coined the term "scout rifle." He
credited the Winchester Model 94 carbine and Mannlicher-Schoenauer carbine as
the direct ancestors of his scout rifle. He also began refining the concept, eventually
adding an IER scope mounted forward of the receiver. A series of Jeff Cooper's personal
scout rifles followed, based on various short bolt actions. It is worth noting
that the Cooper Scout Rifles were designed to serve as hunting and defensive
weapons for guides, scouts, explorers and solo hunters in rough and/or remote
country. They were not military rifles. He settled on the .308 Winchester as
the ideal scout rifle cartridge, but remained interested in the .350 Rem. Mag.
(and later the .376 Steyr) for a more specialized scout rifle intended for hunting,
or as protection from, dangerous game. He called this his "Lion Scout."
Jeff Cooper proved his scout rifles on big game hunts around the world, about
which he wrote a number of articles.

In the early 1980's, Cooper wrote an article extolling the
benefits of his (by then developed and refined) scout rifle concept and it
caught the attention of the survivalist crowd. In 1997, Steyr Mannlicher, with
Jeff Cooper's assistance, introduced the .308 Steyr Scout. Savage, Springfield
Armory and possibly others subsequently produced versions of the scout rifle
concept, but none of them has exactly set the firearms world on fire. So far,
the scout rifle has remained a niche product.

Sturm, Ruger hopes to change that with the introduction of
their Gunsite Scout, blessed by the famous Gunsite firearms training
center founded by Jeff Cooper. Ruger, using their considerable marketing power,
has extensively advertised this new introduction as, "The one rifle to
have if you could have only one," an ad campaign that has generated plenty
of interest and may, finally, turn the scout rifle into a mainstream firearm.
Having played around with scout rifle concepts and components, albeit without
coining the clever name, since the early 1960's, we were naturally interested
in reviewing Ruger's modern version.

The Ruger Gunsite Scout is based on the short Model 77
bolt action in .308 Winchester. This is a cock on opening, controlled feed design on
the Mauser 98 pattern. The Scout's action has been modified to accept a 10 round,
detachable box magazine and fitted with other enhancements. These include a
flash suppressor, protected front and rear aperture sight, Picatinny rail
forward of the receiver (for convenient IER scope mounting), recoil pad and three
½" spacers to adjust the length of pull. The M-77 receiver has the usual
integral mounting cuts for Ruger scope rings, which are supplied with the
rifle. The laminated stock is stained gray/black with a black recoil pad and it
complements the carbine's matte black metal finish. The three panel, laser-cut
checkering wraps around the forend and there are generous checkered areas on
each side of the pistol grip.

The trigger of our test rifle released cleanly with zero
take-up at 4.75 pounds, according to our RCBS Trigger Pull Scale. This is a big
improvement over the first Ruger M-77 Hawkeye rifle we reviewed. If Ruger would
reduce the trigger pull to about three pounds, they would really have something.

The safety is the by now familiar M-77 three position type
that allows unloading the chamber with the safety switch in the middle
position. Forward is "fire," fully rearward is "safe" and
locks the bolt closed. The bolt release is located at the left rear of the
receiver. It is notable for the sharp edge on its raised thumb tab. The
magazine release is a lever protruding down from the front of the cast aluminum
trigger guard. The Ruger Gunsite Scout is available with a right or left
hand action.

Specifications as tested

Catalog
number: M77-GS

Model
number: 6803

Action:
Model 77 bolt, right hand, controlled feed

Caliber:
.308 Winchester

Magazine
capacity: 10 rounds

Trigger
pull weight: 4.75 pounds

Safety:
three position

Metal:
alloy steel

Metal
Finish: matte black

Stock:
black laminate

Front
sight: protected post

Rear
sight: windage adjustable "ghost ring"

Barrel
length: 16.5"

Overall
length: 38"-39.5" (38.5" w/one stock spacer)

Length
of pull: 12.75"-14.25" (13.25" w/one stock spacer)

Weight:
7.0 pounds

2011
MSRP: $995

You could not call the Ruger Gunsite Scout a pretty
rifle, but it is business-like with the exception of a couple of unnecessary
features. The 10 round magazine projects so far below the bottom of the rifle
that it is clumsy and gets in the way in the field. We think the Scout should
be shipped with two magazines, the second being a more practical five round
magazine. Alternatively, ship the Scout with a standard five round magazine and
make the 10 round magazine an accessory available for those who want it.

The second unnecessary feature is the flash suppressor. We
would gladly exchange the dubious cosmetic benefit of the flash suppressor for
an additional two inches of barrel length, which the .308 Winchester cartridge
desperately needs for enhanced ballistic efficiency. A 165 grain bullet that
leaves a 24" barrel at 2700 fps is likely to leave a 16.5" barrel at
only 2550 fps (Remington estimates). Deleting the flash suppressor and adding
two inches to the barrel would not increase the overall length of the rifle and
would increase muzzle velocity while reducing muzzle blast to the shooter. A
flash suppressor is pointless for a single hunter, guide, or explorer in remote
country, the applications for which the scout rifle was created.

We did our test shooting for this review at the Izaak Walton
outdoor range south of Eugene, Oregon. Guns and Shooting Online staff
members Chuck Hawks, Rocky Hays, Jim Fleck and Bob Fleck were on hand. Our
standard rifle testing distance is 100 yards, but in deference to the Scout's
iron sights and our aging eyes, we shot our groups for record from 50 yards.
All of our shooting was done from a bench rest using a Caldwell Lead Sled. The
early summer weather was overcast with an occasional smattering of rain and a
high temperature of 69-degrees F.

We fired three shot groups for record with
four types of .308 ammunition. These included Remington Managed Recoil with a
125 grain Core-Lokt PSP bullet, Winchester Supreme Elite with a 150 grain XP3
bullet, Stars & Stripes with a 165 grain Hornady Spire Point bullet and a
medium velocity reload using the 165 grain Hornady BTSP bullet in front of 44.0
grains of IMR 4064 powder.

As you can see from the results above, the Scout delivered consistent,
but not tiny, groups. We have ordered a Leupold FX-II 2.5x28mm IER Scout scope
to mount on the Picatinny rail forward of the receiver, which should substantially
improve the practical accuracy of the little carbine. However, our impression
is that, if you are looking for gilt-edged accuracy, you should look elsewhere.

Chuck discovered that the Scout's stock, designed primarily for use with a telescopic sight, had a comb too high to allow him to comfortably use the iron sights. He therefore left the shooting chores to the other guys. Jim was occupied shooting handguns for other reviews, so Rocky and Bob shot the Scout for record. Rocky did the best work with the Scout and shot the smallest groups.

Bob discovered that, as long as the bolt was operated swiftly,
cartridges appeared to feed correctly from the magazine. However, if the bolt were
operated slowly the cartridge would pop out of the magazine in front of the
bolt's full length extractor. The cartridge could still be chambered, as the
M-77 extractor is beveled to allow it to ride over the case rim as the bolt is
closed, but the advantage of controlled feeding is lost. We also noticed that
the long magazine had a lot of play after locking in place in the receiver,
which is never good.

We found that the "10 round" magazine will
actually accept 11 cartridges and feed them correctly. Unfortunately, it is
difficult to load more than one cartridge into this magazine. The best
procedure is to set the magazine upright on a table and use two hands to load
the cartridges. This is necessary, because if you load normally with one hand
holding the magazine and the other pressing in the cartridges, the base of the
top cartridge in a partially loaded magazine will pop-up above the rear edge of
the magazine and slip backward as the next cartridge is pressed into the
magazine. This ties-up the magazine. The solution is to hold the base of the
top cartridge down with one hand as the other hand is used to slip the next
cartridge into the magazine. Reloading in the field, with no convenient bench
rest on which to set the magazine, is going to be a hassle. No one liked the design
of the 10 round magazine and we all agreed that a standard five round magazine
would be a great improvement.

We hope that Ruger plans to follow their Gunsite Scout with
a "Bear Scout" for the North American market, chambered in the .350
Remington Magnum caliber favored by both Jeff Cooper and the Guns and Shooting Online staff. This
version should have a stainless steel barreled action with an 18.5" magnum
weight barrel (no flash suppressor), come with a five shot magazine and weigh
about 7-3/4 pounds without scope. If offered, it would make an excellent
Alaskan "guide rifle" and serve admirably for protection against
large predators anywhere in the world.

Our suspicion is that the Ruger Gunsite Scout is going
to sell well, probably primarily to urban wanna-be commandoes who have no
intention of venturing alone into remote territory. The day of the explorer,
scout and mountain man is largely past, but we think Jim Bridger and Kit Carson would
have loved this little Ruger carbine.